All Tomorrow's Parties is an organisation based in London that has been promoting festivals and concerts throughout the UK and worldwide for almost ten years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 1999 in preparation for the first All Tomorrow's Parties festival, the line-up of which was curated by Mogwai and took place in the unusual setting of Pontins Holiday Camp, Camber Sands. Since then the festival has appeared every year, and continues to set itself apart from festivals like Reading or Glastonbury by staying intimate, un-corporate and fan-friendly. Another vital difference is that the line-ups are chosen by significant bands or artists, resulting in unpredictable and exciting events which combine performances by legendary and influential acts with appearances by the latest crop of experimental artists from any (and every) musical genre. The All Tomorrow's Parties festival has become more successful with every passing year, moving in 2006 to a larger holiday camp. It has taken place in both the UK and USA, and has been curated by the following artists:

Mike Patton & Melvins, My Bloody Valentine, Explosions In The Sky, Pitchfork Media, Portishead, Dirty Three, Sonic Youth, The Shins, Sleater Kinney, Dinosaur Jr., Devendra Banhart, Mudhoney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Mars Volta, Vincent Gallo, Slint, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Stephen Malkmus, Mogwai, Tortoise, Shellac, Autechre, Modest Mouse and Simpsons' creator Matt Groening.

In 2007 the curators allowed festival goers to pick the lineup by organising a voting process for all ticketholders in the months running up to the event. The festival now takes place three times a year in the UK (twice in May and once in December for the 'Nightmare Before Christmas'). In recent years the ATP organisations involvement in festivals has spread further; including curating stages at Barcelona's acclaimed Primavera Sound Festival, and at Pitchfork Magazine's Music Festival in Chicago in 2007 and 2008.

In 2008 ATP held their first east coast U.S. festival at Kutshers Country Club, Monticello, New York. It was called 'an unforgettable end to the summer festival season' by Spin magazine, and Pitchfork stated that it was: 'the most enjoyable festival experience of our reporter's life.' ATP plans to return to Kutshers in September 2009 with guest curators The Flaming Lips, and tickets are now on sale.

2009 will also see the first ATP Australia festival, which will include events in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, all curated by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and is also on sale now.

Significant past performances at ATP festivals include the reformations of The Magic Band, Television and Slint amongst others. All Tomorrow's Parties were also proud to present the return of My Bloody Valentine with a series of worldwide live performances throughout 2008, the London concerts of which were named Time Out's Gig Of The Year.

ATP does not merely curate festivals; the company is also involved in organising other special events (such as a yearly Halloween show named Release The Bats), and promoting gigs throughout the year in London and other UK cities. Another major project is the Don't Look Back season, which since 2005 has seen ATP working to curate seasons in which artists perform famous or acclaimed albums in a live setting in album order. Past seasons have included legendary performances from The Stooges ('Funhouse'), Belle & Sebastian ('If You're Feeling Sinister'), Gang Of Four ('Entertainment'), Ennio Morricone (classic film soundtracks), Slint ('Spiderland') and Sonic Youth, whose series of performances of the classic 'Daydream Nation' earnt the title of Time Out magazine's Gig Of The Year 2007.

In 2001 the organisation spawned ATP Recordings, a record label originally created to bring out compilation albums related to its festivals. However the label eventually moved on from just doing compilations for the festival to sign and release singles and albums from bands including Threnody Ensemble, Bardo Pond, The Magic Band, Deerhoof, White Out, Death Vessel, The Drones, Fursaxa, The Scientists, Apse, Fuck Buttons and Alexander Tucker.

At the end of 2007 ATPR announced plans to release a new series of double 7" singles called Custom Made, which would feature bands choosing four songs; one something old, one something new, one something borrowed (a cover version) and one something blue (artists were free to interpret this as they feel). The first two bands to release singles in this series are Australia's The Drones and Britain's Alexander Tucker.

Other ATPR projects during 2008 included the release of Street Horrrsing from Fuck Buttons, which received an 8.6 rating from Pitchfork, a re-release of the album Spirit by Connecticut's Apse, a third full-length release from Alexander Tucker named Portal, a UK release of Deerhoof's Offend Maggie, and a new album from The Drones: Havilah.

http://www.atpfestival.com

http://www.atprecordings.com

http://www.dontlookbackconcerts.com